NASCAR's Seven-Year Truck Title Deal Brings Stability To Series

NASCAR Thursday officially announced that Camping World has signed a seven-year deal to title sponsor the Truck Series beginning next season, "bringing a measure of stability to its No. 3 racing series,” according to John Schwarb of ESPN.com. Financial terms were not disclosed. Camping World replaces Craftsman, which was the Truck Series’ “first and only sponsor since it began” in ’95. Camping World Chair & CEO Marcus Lemonis said that the company “will activate its sponsorship not only on the racing surface with truck windshield decaling but around racetracks themselves, providing an interactive marketplace for their recreational vehicles and outdoor camping accessories.” Lemonis: “Our activation is about experiencing our product, and our activation is about allowing people to take our product to the racetrack to make it more convenient.” Camping World has been a “prominent brand in recent years in NASCAR and especially the Truck Series,” sponsoring Kevin Harvick Inc.’s (KHI) No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. The company will “continue as primary sponsor of the No. 33 through the 2009 season, but will end its sponsorship of a KHI Nationwide Series car” (ESPN.com, 10/23). Lemonis said that the agreement with NASCAR will “last at least four years” (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 10/24). In DC, Tim Lemke reports the deal is “estimated to be worth” between $5-7M annually. Lemonis said that the company “has seen a 9[%] decline in sales this year, and it sought the title sponsorship as a way to broaden its marketing strategy.” Lemonis: “We needed a forum where we could spend an affordable percentage of our total marketing spend on branding” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/24).

KEEP ON TRUCKIN': In Milwaukee, Dave Kallmann writes the Camping World deal “wasn’t the most lucrative one discussed,” but NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France said that it was the “best fit because of the company’s ability to help the series attract more fans.” France: “You just can’t put a dollar amount on that commitment” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/24). ESPN.com’s Terry Blount wrote the deal “shows that NASCAR can bring on major corporate dollars at a time when many companies are cutting back and reducing expenditures.” Signing a series title sponsor in the “middle of bleak economic times is a good sign that things will be OK in the long run, but everyone realizes many tough days are ahead” (ESPN.com, 10/23).